Review: 'Good Night Good Morning'

Film: Good Night Good Morning
Director: Sudhish Kamath
Cast: Seema Rahmani, Manu Narayan, Raja Sen, Vasanth Santosham
Rating: ****

 It is New Year’s Eve, a guy is driving down to Philadelphia with his friends -- who are in varied states of consciousness; a girl is alone in a hotel room. The plot is as simple as this: The boy calls the girl, girl answers, girl hangs up, calls back again and they continue to talk. Why would an 81-minute conversation between strangers hold you in place, you might ask. But have faith, and have patience.

Turiya (Narayan) manages to dig deeper into his own past as he shares stories, anecdotes and his philosophical leanings with Moira (Rahmani), a girl spending a night in New York on New Year's, waiting for her flight next morning. Their conversation flows like a stream, sometimes smooth in its honesty and sometimes splashy in its revelations. Moira is brazen and honest in her opinion of Turiya and he in turn is unabashed about his past, and in asking about the details of her past -- an edge they both earn by fact that they are strangers. With the crisp, clever and metaphorical dialogue as you travel with the two -- taking in their story, gripped by their shyness, their skepticism, their romanticism, their anger, their embarrassment -- it is easy to break out into giggles right after wiping the corner of your eyes. To bring out that kind of a connect with the audience through a simple black and white film, shot without any gimmicks, takes a lot of depth, honesty and let’s face it, brevity. Kamath handles his characters in a straight-forward manner, jumping into their subconscious time to time and yet he doesn't overindulge in the dark, twisted past of his characters.

The actors mould themselves beautifully into their characters and even though they have plenty of words to their credit, they emote with a sense of integrity that makes the film completely real. Narayan pulls of an SRK parody with as much ease as he does an emotionally broken man who wants the girl to love him back. Rahmani's portrayal of Moira brings out the delicate shades of the wounds her past has left on her beautifully. Sen, whose pen has had many an actor quivering and at times scarred, has jumped fences to play JC -- an inebriated character in the background whose sheer madness forces you to break into peals of laughter.

Good Night Good Morning is a compelling watch. The film engages you emotionally and as the credits roll, it leaves you with a big smile on your face. And it does it so effortlessly, that writing about it is no good. One has to experience this film. Go watch it. Not just because it is a great film, but because it is an outstanding experience that doesn't come by too often out of Indian cinema!